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"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

That is a proverb that will be my go-to for the next 11 months, up until after the general elections in 2027; and that is not without good cause. You see, Nigerians are a people cursed with short-term political memories, or at least the ability to pretend to have short-term memories. And for posterity's sake, they must be reminded of the schemes, deeds, and intentions of their political oppressors at regular intervals. Not that they'd act upon it, but just so that they could always be reminded, “I told you so” .

The 2027 Presidential and National Assembly elections have been slated for 20th February, 2027 (the date has now been shifted to 16th January, 2027 —a talk for another day ) and on 18th February, 2026 —with just over a year to go—the members of the National Assembly and the President have proposed, passed, and signed an amendment to Section 60(3) of the Electoral Act mandating INEC to electronically transmit the election results from the EC8A Forms upon signing, but here's the catch: the same amendments prioritizes the physical EC8A Forms as the “primary source” of the results if transmission fails due to 'communication issues' . The amendment further stipulates penalties (a six-month jail term, a fine of ₦500,000, or both) for presiding officers who willfully frustrate the electronic transmission of election results.

Rinu Oduala 🔥🔫

@SavvyRinu

“A study of presidential results sheets available on IReV was conducted with a sample of 385 presidential forms.

It showed that only 31 per cent of presidential election results uploaded in IReV were formally & mathematically correct.”

Only 31 percent was correct.- The EU EOM

1,515

5:13 PM • Jul 4, 2023

Now, do I need to remind you that this same electronic transmission was the original process promised by the former INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu? It was one of the main reasons why over ₦350 billion was spent on infrastructure preparation for the last election. It was also one of the main disappointments of the last election, considering it never worked quite as promised; and consequently, it became one of the main points of conflict for most of the election tribunals and judicial processes that followed that election in 2023.

Fast forward to the present, Nigeria has had three years under the present administration to understand what went wrong in the last election, find lasting solutions to it, and consequently prepare itself better for the next elections. Instead, she has found herself right where she left off in 2023: affirming that some expensive technology would be instrumental in fighting electoral fraud, promising and budgeting for the implementation of the said technology even though she can't provide guarantees for it, and finally allowing for measures that make electoral fraud easier if—or rather, when—said technology doesn't work.

It is only a madman who keeps doing the same things, while expecting different results; and Nigeria has proven that it is full of borderline mentally unstable people. We keep ranting and praying that we'd get the good governance that we crave—but don't really deserve—while watching and allowing the bad governance that has found its way to our doors to continually pave better ways to keep us in the shackles we are already in.

The last issue of this newsletter was literally focused on the issue of the executive arm of a supposed modern democracy still being handed the power to decide on the country's electoral referee whilst the legislature rubber-stamped the decision.

Now, we've found ourselves in the quagmire of the legislature passing a bill that approves and allows undemocratic leaders to emerge from a supposed democratic process, instead of demanding that the democratic process be made fool-proof, which it possibly can. Of course, there have been protests at the National Assembly by well-meaning citizens in the past week but we know where that'll lead—at most, it'll be just another very small step towards an already brewing revolution.

The questions that remain in my mind amidst all these is,

1. What classifies or can be called a 'failure in communication' considering the fact that the law doesn't explicitly define what that phrase means?

2. Will the courts decide on the ensuing disputes on a case-by-case considering the ambiguity of 'failure in communication' , leading to a repeat of 2023?

3. Do the electorate even trust the judiciary to secure or recover their mandate considering the aftermath of the 2023 elections?

The fact remains that electronic transmission is possible, feasible even—telecommunication companies have stated that they can provide internet coverage in 93% of the country and have reiterated that this has been tested in by-elections so it is not just theoretical, it is practical—and the obvious attempt by the Senate to make it seem far-fetched or unstable in practice is an intentional sabotage of the franchise of millions of Nigerians.

Think-pieces have been written, stakeholders have spoken, riggers are planning, but the truth remains that while it may seem like such a small step, the electronic transmission of electoral results may be the first reform that gives birth to a nation we can all be proud of.

---

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

That is a proverb that will be my go-to for the next 11 months, up until after the general elections in 2027; and that is not without good cause. You see, Nigerians are a people cursed with short-term political memories, or at least the ability to pretend to have short-term memories. And for posterity's sake, they must be reminded of the schemes, deeds, and intentions of their political oppressors at regular intervals. Not that they'd act upon it, but just so that they could always be reminded, “I told you so” .

The 2027 Presidential and National Assembly elections have been slated for 20th February, 2027 (the date has now been shifted to 16th January, 2027 —a talk for another day ) and on 18th February, 2026 —with just over a year to go—the members of the National Assembly and the President have proposed, passed, and signed an amendment to Section 60(3) of the Electoral Act mandating INEC to electronically transmit the election results from the EC8A Forms upon signing, but here's the catch: the same amendments prioritizes the physical EC8A Forms as the “primary source” of the results if transmission fails due to 'communication issues' . The amendment further stipulates penalties (a six-month jail term, a fine of ₦500,000, or both) for presiding officers who willfully frustrate the electronic transmission of election results.

Rinu Oduala 🔥🔫

@SavvyRinu

“A study of presidential results sheets available on IReV was conducted with a sample of 385 presidential forms.

It showed that only 31 per cent of presidential election results uploaded in IReV were formally & mathematically correct.”

Only 31 percent was correct.- The EU EOM

1,515

5:13 PM • Jul 4, 2023

Now, do I need to remind you that this same electronic transmission was the original process promised by the former INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu? It was one of the main reasons why over ₦350 billion was spent on infrastructure preparation for the last election. It was also one of the main disappointments of the last election, considering it never worked quite as promised; and consequently, it became one of the main points of conflict for most of the election tribunals and judicial processes that followed that election in 2023.

Fast forward to the present, Nigeria has had three years under the present administration to understand what went wrong in the last election, find lasting solutions to it, and consequently prepare itself better for the next elections. Instead, she has found herself right where she left off in 2023: affirming that some expensive technology would be instrumental in fighting electoral fraud, promising and budgeting for the implementation of the said technology even though she can't provide guarantees for it, and finally allowing for measures that make electoral fraud easier if—or rather, when—said technology doesn't work.

It is only a madman who keeps doing the same things, while expecting different results; and Nigeria has proven that it is full of borderline mentally unstable people. We keep ranting and praying that we'd get the good governance that we crave—but don't really deserve—while watching and allowing the bad governance that has found its way to our doors to continually pave better ways to keep us in the shackles we are already in.

The last issue of this newsletter was literally focused on the issue of the executive arm of a supposed modern democracy still being handed the power to decide on the country's electoral referee whilst the legislature rubber-stamped the decision.

Now, we've found ourselves in the quagmire of the legislature passing a bill that approves and allows undemocratic leaders to emerge from a supposed democratic process, instead of demanding that the democratic process be made fool-proof, which it possibly can. Of course, there have been protests at the National Assembly by well-meaning citizens in the past week but we know where that'll lead—at most, it'll be just another very small step towards an already brewing revolution.

The questions that remain in my mind amidst all these is,

1. What classifies or can be called a 'failure in communication' considering the fact that the law doesn't explicitly define what that phrase means?

2. Will the courts decide on the ensuing disputes on a case-by-case considering the ambiguity of 'failure in communication' , leading to a repeat of 2023?

3. Do the electorate even trust the judiciary to secure or recover their mandate considering the aftermath of the 2023 elections?

The fact remains that electronic transmission is possible, feasible even—telecommunication companies have stated that they can provide internet coverage in 93% of the country and have reiterated that this has been tested in by-elections so it is not just theoretical, it is practical—and the obvious attempt by the Senate to make it seem far-fetched or unstable in practice is an intentional sabotage of the franchise of millions of Nigerians.

Think-pieces have been written, stakeholders have spoken, riggers are planning, but the truth remains that while it may seem like such a small step, the electronic transmission of electoral results may be the first reform that gives birth to a nation we can all be proud of.